Don Quijote de la Mancha

OrThe Impossible Dream

• By

• Mario Sarra

• I am I, Don Quijote, the lord of La Mancha

• Destroyer of Evil am I,

• I wil march to the sound of the trumpets of glory

• Forever to conquer or die…..

• To dream the impossible dream• To fight the unbeatable foe….

• This is my quest, to follow that star• No matter how hopeless, no matter

how far….• And the world will be better for this

Our story begins

• cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme

There lived an:• ‘ingenioso hidalgo’ by the name of

• Alonso Quijano/Quexada

• About 50 years old

• Bachelor/unmarried

• Avid reader of Chivalry Books

Some of his favorite titles/Knights:

• Amadís de Gaula

• Palmerín of England

• Belianis

• Galaor

• All the books of Feliciano da Silva

Dangers of (over)reading

• He read so much that

• His brains dried out

• When he was not busy reading, he discussed his favorite topics with the local barber, who trimmed his beard every other day, and the priest.These conversations eventually led to

‘a desire to become knight errant and travel the world’ to right wrongs, and rescue damsels in distress.

…so, one fine morning…

It was the beginning of July

• The weather in La Mancha is hot and unforgiving in the Summer

• He travels for a while not knowing where to go, two thoughts bothering him:

• He has not been knighted yet

• Will he make Dulcinea del Toboso proud of his heroic deeds

Aldonza LorenzoDulcinea del Toboso

Towards night he arrives at a ‘posada’

The morning after• He crosses path with a small caravan

of people and requests of them that they proclaim ‘Dulcinea del Toboso’ the most beautiful princess in the world.

• They refuse because they have no proof…..and…..

First adventure as a knight

• He is left moaning and unable to move on the side of the road, the sun baking his armor and the breeze accumulating dust on him

• Hours later a lonely passerby, who happens to be his neighbor, stumbles upon him…….

The purge

Persistence

• It’s not over yet

• Mindful of the advice of the innkeeper he engages the service of a certain Sancho Panza to whom he promises the governorship of an island

Men on a mission

Out they go

Not long after, ‘giants’ block their way

The Windmills

• From here on ‘Fortune’ rewards them with one adventure after the other.

The Great Battle for LOVE

• The army of the pagan Emperor Alifanfaron, lord of the island of Taprobana

• The Christian king of Garamantas, Pentapolin of the Naked Arm

• Ali’s son is in love with Penta’s daughter

The freeing of the oppressed

The minions of the giant Micomicon

Time to go home

The End

• ……NOT• Don Quijote (1605) became so

popular that many writers contemporary of Cervantes considered writing a sequel.

• Ten years later (1615) Cervantes published the second part

Clavileño

• Don Quijote is mocked and humiliated in the palace of the Duke and Duchess

The giant Malambruno

Let’s recap

• What made/caused the writing of don Quijote?

• 1. the unification of Spain

• 2 the end of the Reconquista

• 3. stability after 781 years of conflict

• 4.the opening of the new world

• But

• Most important of all

• The invention of the

• …………printing press

The author

• Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

(1547-1616)

• Born in Alcalá de Henares

• Small town north of Madrid, seat of one of the earliest universities in Spain

• Soldier

• Novelist

• Poet

• Playwright

• accountant

Lepanto Oct. 7, 1571

El manco de Lepanto

Kidnapped for ransom• Ottoman pirates

• Captivity (1575-80)

• Ransomed by parents and the Trinitarians

• Captivity and DQ

Tributes

• Man of La Mancha with Peter O’ Toole and Sofia Loren

• Don Quijote de La Mancha with John Litgow

• Muchas Gracias